Meet Tivoli Shiosaki, El Gaucho Bellevue’s New General Manager

August 29, 2017

El Gaucho Bellevue’s new General Manager, Tivoli Shiosaki, grew up in a family with a deeply rooted culture of gathering around the table to celebrate and connect. Tiv, as she is known to family and friends, was born in Seattle and grew up in Arlington, WA with parents who worked in the restaurant industry and taught her a great appreciation for all culinary adventures. “My upbringing led to my passion for restaurants and was the driving force in integrating my career with my love of celebrating around meals that take hours to prepare and hours to enjoy,” says Tivoli.

In 2009, she graduated from Washington State University with a Bachelor Degree in Hospitality Business Management which cemented her goals to become a professional in the industry and she began her search for a local company who shared her ideals and values. When she started as a host at El Gaucho Bellevue, she says she “was enamored with every aspect of this company. The strong belief in carrying the highest quality products, the attentiveness of the finest details in service, and the love for our guests and team –all this and more had me hook line and sinker!”

Within a year, she became a lunch server and eventually was given the opportunity to run El Gaucho’s successful Lunch Program. Under the mentorship and leadership of former GM and current Operations Director, Tony Capra, and thoughtful guidance from peer Captains, she moved on to an operations role in El Gaucho Bellevue’s management team. Becoming General Manager has Tivoli feeling excited to continue to grow and learn with the company and says that “the wonderful experiences we strive to provide in our restaurant, and the people who make it happen, are a very special thing –and it is so fun to be a part of it.” Shiosaki credits the support, growth, and structure of a corporate company, balanced with still being a local and family endeavor allows the business to thrive and for each individual team member to influence that. One of her favorite tasks as GM is “quality control” tasting on the oysters from Taylor Shellfish.

Tivoli comes from a large family, as does her husband, Alex, so they spend a lot of their time with their extended family and Tivoli’s parents Gregg and Linda and her sister Gabrielle. She says her parents deserve awards for their love, support and patience and Gabrielle is her partner in crime and her best friend. One of her favorite family traditions is New Year’s Eve when the Shiosaki clan prepares a traditional Japanese feast to welcome in good luck and good fortune for the New Year. It takes a huge labor of love to pull off with the family creating everything from scratch. Besides food adventures like foraging, digging for razor clams and dining out, Tivoli’s other interests include gardening and traveling with her husband Alex, including recent trips to Costa Rica, Mexico, Thailand and the Washington Coast.

Join Tivoli at El Gaucho Bellevue for her attention to detail and her heart-warming smile. Be sure to let her know that you heard her name spelled backward is “i-lov-it!”

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The official blog of El Gaucho Hospitality. The stories behind our brand run deep—learn more about our commitment to building a strong community, our heritage of hospitality, and for an occasional peek behind the scenes.